Darling, You Look Perfect Tonight
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Jacinda is about to leave prom when a handsome guy in a red mask approaches her.


Jacinda hated parties. She would much rather be on the couch, eating popcorn and watching a bad movie. To her, prom was just going to be another party. They could dress it up however they wanted, call it a "masquerade ball", she didn't care. It would require her to get a dress that she couldn't afford (not to mention a mask for the masquerade part), schlep all the way out to the banquet hall and stand around with a bunch of people-most of whom she couldn't stand.

One of the people she could still stand? Sabine, her best friend in the entire world. She was taking James Rogers to the dance and kept convincing Jacinda to find a date of her own. Eventually, Jacinda caved-to the dance part. There was no way that she was going to be caught dead trying to ask one of the guys out. They would most likely just turn her down anyway.

She knew better than to ask her step-mother for money to go to the dance (even though Victoria was buying her step-sister one), so she pulled double time at Mr. Cluck's and was finally able to afford a ticket and a second hand gown.

It was light blue and had an intricate sparkly design over it, with puffy sleeves that drooped a bit. The dress didn't have a neckline and fell down so some of her cleavage was coming out a bit. The mask was silver and blue, just enough to cover her eyes and tied in the back of her head. Tiana's mother helped the girls do their hair before they headed off to their senior prom together.

The dance was just as boring as Jacinda thought it might be. Tiana stuck by her side at first, but Jacinda encouraged her to go off and dance with her date. She picked at the dry chicken and sipped the virgin drinks (she'd kill for Ivy's flask right about now, but her sister was off to the side with her friends).

All of this suddenly felt like a waste of time and a waste of money. It changed nothing. She was still the unpopular girl with one friend. The orphan whose parents had died and her father had stupidly left her in the care of her evil step-mother. The girl who constantly smelled of chicken and grease because she was working her butt off to pay for college and make it out of this God forsaken town. It didn't change that she was invisible.

Pushing herself up, she dug through her clutch and pulled out her phone, ready to text Sabine to let her know that she had left early and to not worry about her. Before she could do so, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Would you like to dance?"

Looking up, she saw a tall and sort of lanky guy standing before her. He was wearing a gray suit with a black tie and around his face was a red mask. It took her a minute, but getting a closer look at him, she realized it was Henry Mills. He wasn't one of the most popular in school, but he was pretty well feared considering his mother was the mayor.

"Henry," she said, blinking a few times. "I haven't seen you all night."

"I was mostly over there," he stuck his thumb in the general direction of the dance floor. "Now, I'm trying to hide from your sister."

Jacinda looked over shoulder and could see Ivy surveying the dance floor. She let out a tiny giggle. "Yeah, she was hoping that you would ask her."

"I'm not exactly interested in her."

She nodded. "Of course not. You came with Violet, right?"

"Oh, no. We broke up towards the end of junior year. I thought you would've known that already."

"I'm not exactly at the front and center of the rumor mill."

"Right." He paused for a second before Perfect by Ed Sheeran began to play. "May I have this dance?"

"I was just about to go…"

"Oh, come on. What's the worst that can happen?"

He extended his hand and she looked at the door before gazing into his beautiful green eyes through the slits in his mask. She slowly took it and he lead her onto the floor, dancing with her to the soft lyrics of the pop singer. He spun her in a circle and then pulled her close to him. She giggled and looked up at him, how had she never noticed how handsome he was?

Resting her head on his shoulder, she let out a content sigh. He adjusted his grip on her and leaned down in her hear to whisper something to her.

"You look perfect tonight."

Blush touched the tip of her cheeks. "You're just quoting the song."

"I mean it."

Jacinda touched his chin before moving up his mask and doing the same with her own. He tilted his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't want to be hidden when I do this."

She kissed him and he deepened it, pulling her even closer to him.


End file.
